Russell ‘sneaks’ into grandstand during FP1 in viral moment
George Russell watched Mexico City Grand Prix first practice from the grandstands.
George Russell has revealed he “snuck” into the grandstands to watch opening practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver sat out of the first practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as rookie Frederik Vesti deputised for FP1.
While Vesti ended up with the 14th-fastest time, Russell made the most of the rare opportunity outside of the driving seat to watch the action trackside.
Rather than following along from the garage or pitwall, the Briton went undercover to watch the action from the grandstand in the Foro Sol baseball stadium.
“Someone’s borrowing my car, I’ve not seen an F1 car on track for a long, long time. So let’s go,” Russell said in a Mercedes video documenting his trip to the grandstand.
“I need some sort of disguise,” Russell added, before putting on a nacho libre wrestling mask and a coat.
Haven’t watched F1 cars on track in years, so found a way to sneak into the stands while Fred was driving my car 🎭🤣 pic.twitter.com/Ghg2gnzFmF
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) October 24, 2025
Mercedes’ video continued to show Russell sat in the grandstand among fans as he enjoyed the FP1 action from the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez’s famous stadium section.
“That’s my car! He’s in my car!” Russell says, pointing at Vesti as he drove by.
Afterwards, Russell said: “I enjoyed that a lot to be honest. I’ve not seen F1 cars on track for years and years and years.
“It was cool. Get to see what everyone else sees.”
Russell will return to the cockpit of his W14 for second practice.
His rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli was second quickest in FP1, 0.107 seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
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